Eurasia Division in the OECD

The webinar was attended by 156 participants: Ministers and representatives of the highest political leadership of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, responsible for development and implementation of measures to improve the legal environment of entrepreneurship; representatives of OECD member countries, international experts and specialists, representatives of project partners, EU and OECD officials.

Kazakhstan's Minister of Trade and Integration Bakhyt Sultanov, Vice-Minister of Justice Akerke Akhmetova, and representatives of Economic Research Institute JSC took part in the video-conference.

Central Asian countries have implemented good reforms to create a favorable business climate. However, the general trend indicates ineffective law enforcement practices. 

According to the FDI Regulatory Restrictiveness Index in Central Asian countries, compared to the OECD, restrictions are concentrated in such sectors as agriculture and forestry, mass media, finance and business services.

At that, Uzbekistan is closest to the OECD member countries in terms of the FDI Regulatory Restrictiveness Index.

Representatives of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan shared their experience in creating favorable business and investment conditions. A common trend in all countries is the introduction of electronic document management and digitalization of public services for business. 

Tajikistan has created a one-stop shop for businesses that provides services for registering legal entities, registering property, connecting to electricity and other communications. In order to develop entrepreneurship, a consultative Council has been functioning under the President of Tajikistan since 2016.

In Kyrgyzstan, the Tunduk one-stop shop has been created, in which 53 state bodies are integrated. Currently, 92% of enterprises and government agencies use electronic invoices, cash registers, and labeling. 

one of the innovations in business regulation is the introduction of regulatory impact analysis, the main purpose of which is to determine and assess the socio-economic consequences of draft laws being developed. In this process, any business entity can express its point of view, which is taken into account when making a final resolution on the draft law.   

At the same time, new export and import standards were introduced in Kazakhstan, which simplified customs procedures to 20 minutes. In March 2019, Kazakhstan introduced a one-stop shop system for exports and is working to improve the Customs Code.

Vice-Minister of Justice of Kazakhstan Akerke Akhmetova noted that the Department is constantly working to improve legislation in the area of intellectual property, enforcement proceedings, simplification of registration procedures for legal entities and registration of immovable property rights. 

In June 2018, the Law was signed aimed at improving legislation in the area of intellectual property. The Law created a single-level system for registration of intellectual property objects, shortened the terms of expert and registration procedures. It also eliminates the need to verify the identity of applicants, since information is available from the Government Databases "Individuals" and "Legal Entities" through appropriate integration. 

Currently, work is underway to ratify two regional agreements: the Protocol on the Protection of Industrial Designs to the Eurasian Patent Convention dated September 9, 1994 and the treaty on trademarks, service marks and appellations of origin of the EAEU goods.

To improve Kazakhstan's position in the World Bank's Doing Business Rating, work is underway to reduce the time and financial costs of executing a judicial act where the parties are business representatives.

At the end of the webinar, Ambassador Sven-Olov Carlsson, the Head of the EU Delegation to the Republic of Kazakhstan, outlined the priorities for reforming the business climate for Central Asian countries, focusing on the operating environment for SMEs, contract execution, legal framework for investment and taxation. In particular, in relation to Kazakhstan, it is recommended: